"The first victory we can claim is that our hearts are free of hatred. Hence we say to those who persecute us and who try to dominate us: ‘You are my brother. I do not hate you, but you are not going to dominate me by fear. I do not wish to impose my truth, nor do I wish you to impose yours on me. We are going to seek the truth together’. THIS IS THE LIBERATION WHICH WE ARE PROCLAIMING."
Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas (2002)

Friday, June 2, 2017

Tiananmen Square Massacre at 28

In memory of those who stood up for their rights, lost their lives and for those still unjustly imprisoned today in China.

Students peacefully demonstrating in Tiananmen in 1989

Tiananmen Square and the events of June 1989 remain a censored topic in mainland China, but now one finds that "mistaken" censorship is also taking place outside of communist China. On May 11, 2017 The Wall Street Journal reported in the article "China Tells Facebook to ‘Come Learn From Us’ on Censoring Content " that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg "has tried everything" to get Facebook Inc unblocked in China. Days later on May 26, 2017 Facebook rejected a Hong Kong activist's profile picture frame referencing the Tiananmen massacre. Following an outcry Facebook apologized and approved the image.

Image "mistakenly" censored by Facebook

What are so many so desperate to forget?

Twenty eight years ago the Communist leadership of China opened fire on the Chinese people. The Pro-Democracy Movement that had taken to the streets
in April of 1989 was violently crushed by the Chinese communist
dictatorship beginning on the evening of June 3, 1989. By dawn on June
4, 1989 scores of demonstrators had been shot and killed
or run over and crushed by tanks of the so-called People's Liberation
Army, the blood of students and workers splattered and flowed in the
streets of Beijing. The Chinese Red Cross had initially counted 2,600
dead when they were pressured to stop by Chinese officials and silenced
on this matter.

We start our hunger strike. We protest. We call upon people. We repent.
We are not looking for death, we are looking for the true life. Under
the irrational militant violence by the Li Peng regime, Chinese
intellectuals must end their all-words-but-no-action tradition of
osteomalacia. We must protest the military rule with our actions. We
must give birth to a brand new political culture with our own actions.

Powerful international interests sided with the Beijing dictatorship and helped to perpetuate totalitarian rule in China. One high profile example at the time was former
U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger who persuaded the Bush Administration to downplay the human rights considerations
surrounding the Beijing Massacre and to focus on the economic and
strategic relationship. One month after the massacre on July 4, 1989 George H.W. Bush sent a secret high level delegation to meet with the Chinese regime and join with them in
celebrating American independence.

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) published a October 1, 1989 article
revealing Kissinger's direct business ties to Communist China and his
defense of the regime and justification of the massacre. FAIR reported
how on August 1, 1989 this business consultant who also heads "China
Ventures" [that engages China's state bank in joint ventures]wrote a column that appeared in The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times claiming that "The Caricature of Deng as a Tyrant Is Unfair."

Democrats proved no better on China.

President Carter normalized relations between Washington and Beijing on January 1, 1979. China's one child policy
that systematically violates the reproductive rights of all Chinese was
first applied in 1979. The conventional belief then with regards to China was that normal relations would lead to a greater
opening for
human rights and a peaceful transition to democracy. The opposite has
been the
case. In China the policy of trade and political
engagement
has led to a thriving economic system under Communist party control and
modernization and expansion of both the military and police state to
continue
repressing the Chinese people.

Twenty eight years later and it remains up to civil society, and the press to remember and continue to demand justice. In Hong Kong hundreds of thousands will take to the streets in memory of those who stood up for their rights, lost their lives and freedom on June 4, 1989.

Elie Wiesel in his 1986 Nobel Lecture explained why this date should be remembered: "There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but
there must never be a time when we fail to protest."

Vigil in Hong Kong on June 4th to remember Tiananmen

In China four activists were indicted and jailed for producing and promoting their own baijiu (a popular Chinese
liquor) that commemorated the 28th anniversary of the Tiananmen
crackdown. Amnesty International declared them prisoners of conscience on May 17, 2017 and have a campaign underway #ToastToRememberin order to observe the anniversary of the June 4, 1989 Beijing massacre.